MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Two Cheers for Capitalism (And Another for Black Friday).

If we’re being totally honest, part of the thrill of Christmas is the pure material joy of all the stuff.

I just don’t mean the presents, either. I’m talking about the decorations, the lights, the sparkly tinsel, the gift wrap, the food, the drink… Oh my, the food and the drink. I can’t get enough of the Christmas music, either, especially the totally commercial, secular stuff written mostly in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50 by America’s greatest songwriters. The most famous of them all, “The Christmas Song,” was co-written by Mel Tormé — a Jew. If all that doesn’t warm your heart, then you sir are worse than Hitler.

Christmas, as any good Grinch knows, doesn’t come from a store, and none of the ribbons and tags and packages, boxes, and bags are actually necessary to the Christmas spirit. In fact, it’s all a rather recent innovation for a 2,000-year-old holiday, because for most of human history, humans were too poor to hope to do much more than somehow survive the long winter.

But then a marvelous thing happened: Capitalism.

This one is for PJMedia’s VIP members, and come to think of it, a membership might make a lovely Christmas or Chanuka gift. And that VODKAPUNDIT promo code is still good for a nice little discount, if you’d really like to celebrate all the capitalism.